“So are mine,” declared Connie, shifting to another place in the boat.
Hanny told Vevi to look for a bailing can under the seat. The container could not be found.
“I remember, I used it for something else last week and forgot to put it back,” Hanny admitted.
Vevi and Connie began to squirm nervously. The water was not deep but it kept spreading over the bottom of the boat.
“I want out of this old tub,” Vevi suddenly announced. “It is going to sink!”
Hanny insisted that the boat was safe. “I can’t let you out because we are at the Mattox place now,” she added. “We will soon have that runaway shoe and be back home.”
Vevi and Connie forgot the leaking boat as they looked about with interest. From the Van Der Lann place tall trees and bushes had screened their view of the other nursery.
Now they saw the big greenhouse with its glass roof and a small cottage very much in need of paint. A few tulips were in bloom, but the flowers were not as large or as showy as those on Peter’s place.
“The Mattoxes lived here before my uncle started his nursery,” Hanny told her friends. “They were annoyed when he bought land next to their property. They had expected to add it to their own place.”
“Is that Mrs. Mattox?” Connie asked. She had noticed a woman in a blue straw hat working in the fields.